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The Giant and How He Humbugged America

A two-time Newbery Honor Book author has written an amazing account of one of America's most famous hoaxes! When a ten-foot-tall purported "petrified man" is unearthed from a backyard in upstate New York in 1869, the discovery immediately turns into a spectacle of epic proportions. News of the giant spreads like wildfire, and well over a thousand people come to view him in the first five days alone! Everyone has their own idea of his true origin: Is he an ancient member of the local Onandaga Indian tribe? Is he a biblical giant like Goliath? Soon the interests of worldrenowned scientists and people from around the globe are piqued as arguments flare over who he is, where he came from, and if he is real-or just a hoax. In a riveting account of how the Cardiff Giant mystery snowballed into one of America's biggest money-making spectacles-and scams-Jim Murphy masterfully explores the power of 19th-century media and the unexpected ripple effect that a single corrupt mastermind can produce when given a stage.

Description:

A description of the Cardiff Giant mystery in which a man in upstate New York buried a ten-foot-tall, petrified model of a man, which was discovered by well diggers a year later, and set into motion a money-making spectacle.